cobl04
45:33
For the last 16 years Kite to me has been incomplete without didgeridoo.
Pop 25th Anniversary Thread... What do you want?
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
SayGoodbye
Babyface
That's fair. I guess I like to imagine that it's a beat coming from someone's boombox on a street in NYC, and the sound grounds the beginning of a person's internal monologue that keeps building in intensity. The first couple minutes of that song have some of most beautiful Edge guitar tones and Eno synth sounds on any U2 song imo.
Hewson
Blue Crack Supplier
Yep. Definitely the high point of that album and tour (and of course gets dropped from subsequent tours), one of my favorites of the century as well.
BREAKING: Local Boston Area Man Admits Love For New York; "High Point" and "Favorite... Of Century"
New York managed to absolutely nail the vibe of a late night cab ride through lower manhattan - while also somehow perfectly capturing mid-marriage strife and turmoil (whether it's actually his or if he's describing someone else, who knows).
it's a great tune.
if these guys would ever get their shit together and not have to play the same damn set at every show, a back to back of New York into City of Blinding Lights at the Garden would bring the fucking roof down.
Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
New York is the creative height of the album for me; it's almost Miami-like in its foundation and narrative (trying to stay related to POP here), but then when the chorus comes raging in, it's the best rock moment on the record. Never had a problem with that processed drum loop. Larry for as much as I love him definitely has some go-to phrasing/patterns. So, when they do things like this, I feel like it keeps it fresh.
Oh, and I'm here for the Grace defense. Don't love it, but I think the moody downbeat nature of it is perfect for closing the album and something unique. That guitar tone is lovely and Bono's voice has just the right amount of rough around the edges (that applies to the whole of the album though). I'll also defend IALW (my other favorite tied w NY) and WILATW.
There's a weak spot to All That and it's WH and POE. There's also a "I've heard this song way too freaking many times to not be annoyed" part of the album called Elevation (good song, just over it).
Oh, and I'm here for the Grace defense. Don't love it, but I think the moody downbeat nature of it is perfect for closing the album and something unique. That guitar tone is lovely and Bono's voice has just the right amount of rough around the edges (that applies to the whole of the album though). I'll also defend IALW (my other favorite tied w NY) and WILATW.
There's a weak spot to All That and it's WH and POE. There's also a "I've heard this song way too freaking many times to not be annoyed" part of the album called Elevation (good song, just over it).
SayGoodbye
Babyface
Yeah, I like Grace. It's basically U2's take on The Velvet Underground's song Jesus, I think. It's not quite the masterpiece that the VU's song is (not a major slight, the VU's song is one of the best religious songs ever), but I like how warm and delicate it is.
Hewson
Blue Crack Supplier
Hollow Island
New Yorker
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Totally. It reminded me of Jesus from the moment I heard it. I love their utopian, sci fi take on that sound. Grace, with Edge's gentle tone and the phased keys, are as pretty as U2 ever got imo.
Running to Stand Still also reminds me of the third Velvets album.
since this a thread about Pop after all...
randomly stumbled upon this when looking for something else this morning.
randomly stumbled upon this when looking for something else this morning.
Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
That’s pretty good. He does a good job with those lyrics that are kind of super weird in many places.
Where would U2 be today if Pop had been an AB-level smash hit and sold 10m copies in the US and had three top 10 singles?
Where would U2 be today if Pop had been an AB-level smash hit and sold 10m copies in the US and had three top 10 singles?
the tourist
Blue Crack Addict
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It would have been their biggest hit ever with 3 top 10 singles, assuming you mean top 10 in the US.
pacemaker
Refugee
This is fun to think about. The (p)optimist in me thinks they’d have been more prolific than an album every ~5 years since because they’d not have a giant olive on a swizzle stick and a broken disco lemon making them second guess themselves.
I think maybe they’d have followed a similar trajectory to what we got, except the cool down from the 90s and going back to basics wouldn’t have been so abrupt. Maybe one more album and tour coinciding with the turn of the century.
I don’t think the ATYCLB-analog in this wish fulfillment alternate universe would have been so “clean”. I can’t really explain it better than that because to me, ATYCLB sounds VERY MUCH like the “poster child” of early ‘00s ProTools recordings. I don’t mean that as a negative, just an observation. Might be a “Loudness Wars” thing, idk. I also just realized that I’ve not listened to the 2020 remaster (probably should).
SayGoodbye
Babyface
Yeah! It's not on the third album, but I remember someone pointing out that Running To Stand Still has a very similar chord progression to the VU's I'm Waiting For The Man (another song about heroin addiction).
TheWanderer
The Fly
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